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Sunday, September 07, 2014

Francis Su, Benediktsson-Karwa professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and president-elect of the Mathematical Assn. of America writes, "Earlier this month, Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman in history to win a Fields Medal — "math's Nobel Prize." This is a cause for celebration, but also for reflection."

Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman to win a Fields Medal. (The Seoul ICM 2014 / AFP/Getty Images)

Things are definitely better than they once were for women in mathematics. In the late 18th century, Sophie Germain, who made significant contributions to number theory despite having no formal schooling, had to use a male pseudonym initially to get the attention of renowned scholars Joseph-Louis Lagrange and Carl Friedrich Gauss, who later mentored her.

Sonia Kovalevsky, a 19th century Russian mathematician now known for her work in mathematical analysis, was only allowed to audit university courses because she was a woman. Ultimately, she earned her doctorate through the private tutoring of a mentor who recognized her talent.

Photo: Emmy Noether

And in the early 20th century, German universities initially refused to hireEmmy Noether because of her gender, even though Albert Einstein spoke on her behalf. As a result, she lectured for several years, unpaid and untitled, while doing the research in symmetry and abstract algebra for which she is still known.

Women may not face such blatant impediments to doing math and science today. But Mirzakhani's achievement aside, we are still a long way from adequately recognizing the outstanding work of women.

Data gathered by the Assn. of Women in Science in 2010 show that women in the sciences and mathematics do not win peer recognition at a rate commensurate with their numbers in the profession. For instance, in 2010, women made up 24% of all tenure-track mathematics faculty at colleges and universities, but in the decade from 2001 through 2010, they won just 8.7% of the research and writing awards from the three major mathematical societies.

The disparity is similar across other sciences. In more than a century of Nobel Prizes in chemistry and physics, for example, only six have gone to women (and two of those were to Marie Curie).

What explains the disparity? One pernicious theory is that women are less capable of performing at the highest levels in math and science. But there are simply no data to support this belief.Read more...

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Hello, my name is Helge Scherlund and I am the Education Editor and Online Educator of this personal weblog and the founder of eLearning • Computer-Mediated Communication Center.
I have an education in the teaching adults and adult learning from Roskilde University, with Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and Human Resource Development (HRD) as specially studied subjects. I am the author of several articles and publications about the use of decision support tools, e-learning and computer-mediated communication. I am a member of The Danish Mathematical Society (DMF), The Danish Society for Theoretical Statistics (DSTS) and an individual member of the European Mathematical Society (EMS). Note: Comments published here are purely my own and do not reflect those of my current or future employers or other organizations.